Tony Fernandes, the promoter of the Malaysian
low-cost carrier, Air Asia, on Tuesday announced on Twitter that he had selected the chief executive officer (CEO) for the Indian venture. The announcement comes ahead of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) meet on Wednesday that is likely to take up the Tata-AirAsia joint venture (JV) proposal.
The group has not disclosed the identity of the person yet.
"I have selected the CEO for AirAsia India. A very smart boy from the South, Madras (Chennai). An amazing CV. Will impress all...," AirAsia group Chief Executive Tony Fernandes tweeted on Tuesday without identifying the person.
There are also reports in a section of the media that Fernandes is keen to start his
operations as early as May-June .
Late last month, AirAsia Investment had moved an application with FIPB seeking approval for the JV in which AirAsia would hold 49 per cent stake, with the rest being held by Tata Sons (30 per cent) and Arun Bhatia's Telstra Tradeplace (21 per cent).
Fernandes had recently said the new airline would be based in Chennai and would concentrate in the initial phase on destinations in the South where AirAsia already operates and would also focus on providing connectivity to small towns.
With PTI inputs
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